If you need a gift for someone friends or family that live far away, mail-order gifts are a great option. TODAY lifestyle contributor Elizabeth Mayhew joined Lester Holt to share us her top picks for the best gifts you can order from the comfort of your home, and that will arrive beautifully packaged for the holidays.
1. Vermont Smoke & Cure: The camp box ($72.95)
Vermont Smoke and Cure started as a family business in 1962 and to this day they continue to smoke meats for local Vermont farmers. While they have a wide assortment of gift packages, "the camp box" includes a little of everything, which is sure to please the meat lover on your holiday list.
The box includes: thick-sliced bacon, a quarter ham, summer sausage, smoked pepperoni, Vermont maple sausage, Vermont-grown breakfast sausage, Vermont-grown Italian sausage and Vermont-grown hot Italian sausage.
2. Lillie's Q BBQ Sauce: Three-bottle gift box ($40) or six-bottle gift box ($60)
From award-winning BBQ master Charlie McKenna comes Lillie's Q BBQ sauces that range from tangy to sweet, smokey to spicy. Each flavor Lillie's offers pays homage to the deep-rooted BBQ traditions of specific Southern regions.
3. Grey Ghost Bakery: Cookie gift boxes ($35)
Grey Ghost Bakery owner Katherine Frankstone named her cookie company for the "Grey Ghost" that legend has it alerts residents of Pawleys Island, South Carolina or impending storms. All of the company's cookies are make from scratch from premium, all-natural ingredients, and each gift box is packed in a custom-printed corrugated shipper with three-dozen cookies of the following varieties: cranberry orange pecan, chocolate cayenne bacon, lemon sugar, cinnamon pecan, chocolate espresso and molasses spice.
4. Hot Cakes Molten Chocolate Cakery: Set of 4 mason-jar cakes ($36)
These molten chocolate cakes come shipped frozen in glass mason jars — all you have to do is pop them in the oven for 15 minutes! The cakes are made with all organic ingredients including a whole bar of 70 percent dark chocolate in every cake, and they even make a vegan version.
5. Griottissimo Patisse: branded cherries ($33.90 per 1-liter jar)
Griottissimo Patisse's brandied cherries are the secret ingredient used by some of the best bartenders in the country for their Manhattans (they're also delicious over ice cream or apple pie).
6. King Bean: Coffee roasters holiday gift packs (blend lovers or holiday blend) ($32.99)
King Bean's founder Kurt Weinberger began the company in his parents' South Carolina garage in South Carolina when he was only 23 years old. Today, the company roasts coffee in their 60-kilogram Petrocini roaster all day, and their coffee is all still packed by hand. You can order their coffee either as whole beans or ground for a drip-coffee maker, and have a choice of three holiday blends or three traditional blends for $32.99.
7. Uproot Wine: Wine gift packages ($65+)
All of Uproot Wines selections are sourced from California grapes in Napa and Santa Ynez, and aged in French oak. They even offer a few flavor-palette specialized gift packages:
- Sauvignon Blanc & Skillet Sampler Pack: includes a 2012 bottle of Sauvingnon Blanc and Skillet sampler dips and condiments, including a bacon spread and chipotle pumpkin ketchup.
- TCHO & Uproot wine and chocolate: A great pairing for anyone with a sweet tooth.
- Vine-to-go: Perfect for the person who loves a picnic or afternoon on the beach, this gift option includes a 2013 bottle of Grenache Blanc with a Vinnebago wine thermos.
8. Pinhole Press: Personalized gift box ($54.99)
Choose from two personalized gift boxes, both of which feature a custom photo card with a personal message and photos, which is then packaged with assorted gourmet treats that fit with your basket's theme. The Spicy Gourmet box includes White Whale Filthy Liar cocktail mix (just add gin), all-natural Krave Jerky in Sweet Chipotle and Garlic Chili Pepper and Habanero Heat pistachios from The Gilded Nut. The Breakfast Buddy Box includes Paromi Hibiscus Berry tea, two Marge Granola on-the-go snack packs, and a Pinhole Press personalized Filmstrip List Pad.